The Survey of Education and Work is an annual collection, which was most recently conducted throughout Australia in May 2018 as a supplement to the monthly Labour Force Survey.
Of Australians aged 20 to 64 years:

9.8 million, or 66.7% had attained a non-school qualification.

Of those without a non-school qualification, more than half (52.7%) had a Year 12 or equivalent qualification.

Almost three-quarters (71.4%) of those who were employed had a non-school qualification.

31.4% had a Bachelor Degree or above.

Of Australians aged 15 to 64 years:

Almost one-fifth of Australians(19.0%) were currently studying.

Of those who were currently studying for a non-school qualification, 41.6% were completing a bachelor degree, 13.5% were doing post-graduate degrees, and 12.8% were studying for a Certificate III.

The most popular field of study for a non-school qualification was society and culture (22.0%), followed by management and commerce (20.5%) and health (14.9%).

Of apprentices and trainees, 84.0% were male compared with 16.0% female.

Of Australians aged 15 to 24 years:

81.1% were fully engaged in employment or education and 9.9% were partially engaged.

Key Indicators, Education and Work, Australia, 2008 and 2018

Indicator

Year

Change between

2008

2018

2008 and 2018

Attainment of non-school qualifications, persons aged 20 to 64 years

Persons with a non-school qualification

59.2%

66.7%

7.5pts

Male

61.1%

66.4%

5.3pts

Female

57.4%

67.1%

9.7pts

Persons with a non-school qualification by Labour Force Status

Employed

64.0%

71.4%

7.4pts

Unemployed

48.8%

58.0%

9.2pts

Not in the Labour Force

42.2%

49.9%

7.7pts

Level of highest non-school qualification attained

Certificate III or above(a)

51.9%

62.3%

10.4pts

Bachelor Degree or above(a)

24.4%

31.4%

7.0pts

Participation in formal study, persons aged 15 to 64 years

Persons in formal study

17.8%

19.0%

1.2pts

Male

17.6%

17.7%

(d)0.1pts

Female

18.0%

20.2%

2.2pts

Engagement in employment and education(b)(c), persons aged 15 to 24 years

Fully engaged

83.7%

81.1%

-2.6pts

Partially engaged

7.7%

9.9%

2.2pts

Not engaged

8.7%

9.0%

(d)0.3pts

(a) Proportion of total population aged 20 to 64 years.(b) See the Key Concepts page for more information on how Engagement in employment and education is defined.(c) Including persons participating in school education(d) The difference between periods was not statistically significant. See the Significance Testing article in this publication for more information: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6227.0.55.002Note: Data has been randomly adjusted to avoid the release of confidential data. Discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.